SPATE MUSIC TV

Are major labels still using indie promoters to get radio spins

Written by Antoine King CEO of Spate Media

Are record labels still using indie radio promoters to add songs to the playlist? Over the years record labels have paid millions to lawyers over claims of payola. This is where the record label pays the radio stations to play records. This is illegal for national radio. So in order to side step that law they use indie promoters to get songs played on the radio. The indie promoter approaches the radio stations about a particular song and they pay the station up to 100,000 per year in order to get songs added to the play list. Then the indie promoter charges the label a add fee usually about $1,000 per song. So getting songs added to a medium market can cost as much as 20,000 per month for a single song. In the end the label hopes to sell lots of music and concert tickets. Many believe that 60% of the music played on the radio is added by indie promoters.

So do the labels still use indie promoters? Even though this is still illegal using a middleman to add songs, many radio stations still practice this today.